The
Woods Trail in 17,000-acre Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve (owned by
the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District) begins next to the
intersection of Hicks Road and Mt. Umunhum Road on Jacques Ridge, at
the summit of the road. The trailhead is on
the west side of Hicks Road from the staging area for the Wood Road
Trail in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. The Woods Trail begins at
1400 feet elevation. It runs
for 2.8 miles to Barlow Road, then climbs for 3.7 miles to the
ridgeline of the Sierra Azul range to Mt. El Sombroso at 2999 feet,
ending at the junction of the Kennedy and Limekiln Trails.

The Woods Trail is not known as a wildflower trail, but it is one of
the best. It has a great variety of wildflowers that are close to the
trail and are viewable without leaving the trail. The trail is easily
accessible and runs
mostly flat from Hicks Road to Guadalupe Creek. It follows along an old
service road that was used to bring wood from the forests of the Sierra
Azul range to the Almaden mercury mines. The road is cut into steep,
rocky hillsides. Much of the route is shady. The soil, terrain, and
disturbance provided by the road provide an environment that is
friendly to wildflowers, but hostile to competing non-native grasses
that would normally crowd out the wildflowers.

I hiked the Woods Trail on 5/14/11 and 5/21/11. 5/14/11 was mostly
overcast, with the sun coming out late in the afternoon. I followed the
Woods Trail up to Barlow Road and went partway up Barlow Road. I used a
Canon A720IS compact camera to take pictures on the way up and back.
5/21/11 was clear and sunny all day, but a bit hazy. I took pictures
with an Olympus
E-510 SLR. I followed the Woods Trail down to Guadalupe Creek. Most of
the
pictures below were taken on both days and are roughly in geographical
order, but not in chronological order. Most of the pictures whose
filenames begin with IMG were taken on 5/14 with the compact camera.
Those that begin with P521 were taken on 5/21 with the SLR. While
lighting conditions on those days were good for wildflowers, they were
not too good for landscapes because of overcast and hazy skies and
limited visibility. I came back on 5/29, which was a clearer day. I
used both my compact and SLR cameras, along with a 40-150 mm zoom lens
for my SLR. I walked up to the flat area past Guadalupe Creek in the
late afternoon. Those pictures begin with P529 and IMG-1284.

This is the Sierra
Azul Trailhead, next to Mt. Umunhum Road. At the
trailhead for the Woods Trail is a small parking lot, map board, and
pit toilet. This is a small parking lot that fills up quickly. It was
full, so I parked at the nearby Wood Road staging area in Almaden
Quicksilver County Park, which has a much larger parking lot, and
walked over along a short meadow trail with lots of checkerbloom. The
Woods Trail was dedicated on Oct. 25, 2003, while the
Wood Road Trail in Almaden Quicksilver was dedicated on
April 17, 2004. Mt.
Umunhum is in the background on the left, topped by the former radar
building of the Almaden Air Force Station that once occupied the
mountaintop, scanning the skies for enemy aircraft.

Four-spot clarkia near the parking lot.

California poppies are common early in the spring, but these were the
only poppies I saw on the trail. They were right behind the mapboard.

View of the Sierra Azul range from near the trailhead.

Johnny jump-up

Ithuriel's spears are a common early spring wildflower. These were
still hanging on near the trailhead. There were others on the west side
of Guadalupe Creek.

These are rose clover, a non-native introduced from Eurasia as a cover
crop.
Tomcat clover, unlike rose clover, is a native California plant.

California wild roses

View of the Los Capitancillos Ridge in Almaden Quicksilver County Park.
The cut in the hillside on the right is above the Providencia Pond in
Almaden Quicksilver. Downtown San Jose is on the left. Mission Peak is
in the center.

A banana slug crosses the trail.

The Woods Trail is a wide, hard-surfaced trail that is populate with
equestrians, bicyclists, and hikers.
Fairy lanterns, also called globe lilies
Fernald's iris

Winecup clarkia
Indian paintbrush on the hill, with Mt. Umunhum in the background.
PG&E power lines arching over the canyon of Guadalupe Creek. The
Woods Trail can be seen below the tower on the other side of the canyon.

White blossoms bloom on the cones of a California buckeye tree, with
Mt. Umunhum in the background.
Variable checkerspot butterfly on a thistle

Common yarrow
Bluedicks

Slender madia
Hawksbeard

Climbing morning glory

View of Guadalupe Reservoir, with hedge nettle in the foreground

Telephoto view of Guadalupe Reservoir, with Almaden Quicksilver County
Park behind it, and downtown San Jose in the upper left. Mission Peak,
Mt. Allison, and Monument peak above Fremont and Milpitas are at
the top right.

This is a further zoom-in view of Guadalupe Reservoir, with the
Guadalupe and Mine Hill Trails behind it in Almaden Quicksilver, Hicks
Road to the left of it, and Almaden Lake in the upper right corner.

Zoom-in view of Mineta San Jose International Airport on the left to
center, HP Pavilion and part of downtown San Jose on the right.

View of the canyon of Guadalupe Creek, looking towards Almaden
Quicksilver County Park on the right.
At this point, before rounding the corner where the trail drops down to
Guadalupe Creek, the whole rocky hillside is covered with Pacific
stonecrop. (HDR picture)

More Pacific
stonecrop grow on the bare rocky section of the cliff, while other
plants grow higher up where there is soil.
Closeup of Pacific stonecropCloseup of Pacific stonecrop and
its yellow flowers.
Golden yarrow
Fernald's irises, Chinese houses. The base of the hillside is covered
with Chinese houses.

Closeup of Chinese houses

Down below in the ravine behind this stand of Chinese houses is
Guadalupe Creek

Guadalupe Creek here is a mountain stream tumbling over boulders.

The trail is very shady here, with ferns growing on the hillside.

The trail crosses over Guadalupe Creek on a causeway.

The creek flows
under the trail through a big pipe. Guadalupe Creek eventually flows
into Guadalupe Reservoir.
On the other side of the creek, the trail climbs up the hillside. This
is a view looking back across the canyon at the trail near the
stonecrops

The trail runs through a stand of eucalyptus trees.

Indian paintbrush are growing on the hill. A group returns from a
guided wildflower
hike. The group included plant enthusiast Tom Cochrane, who helped me
with the wildflower identification on this page.

Phacelia, also called scorpionweed

Looking back at the power lines crossing over the canyon.

Looking back down the trail, the headwaters of Guadalupe Creek are up
in the mountain slopes in the background, all part of Sierra Azul OSP.
The trail climbs up to a flat, open area with views east revealing the
Los Capitancillos Range and Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

This open flat may have been used as a storage area. It is now covered
with coyote brush. A brush rabbit is on the lower left.
Yellow flowers of the invasive non-native broom plant

California honeysuckle

Western heart's-easeFatleaf false soloman's seal
Blue witch

Big-berried manzanita

Fremont's star lily

Red thistle

Columbines

Canyon dudleya growing on a rocky cliffside
Junction of the Woods Trail and Barlow Road (left)

This is a view of the Woods Trail below Mt. Umunhum. The trail wraps
around the hill below the mountaintop, then turns to the north to
ascend Mt. El Sombroso. I turned around just beyond here and went back
to go up Barlow Road. All the pictures below are from Barlow Road.

Stipulate lotus

Pacific starflower

Dannie's skullcap

Red leaves on a coast live oak

Galls on manzanita leaves

California buttercups

California
blackberry flowers

Looking down steep Barlow Road, with the Woods Trail climbing Mt. El
Sombroso
in the background. A ceanothus bush is on the lower left.

Closeup of ceanothus flowers.
Yerba santa flowers

Woodland-star

Sticky monkeyflowers

Looking down Barlow Road at about 2000 feet. Barlow Road is a steep
trail that climbs up to Mt. Umunhum Road. Sticky monkeyflower bushes
are on the right
side of the trail.

Looking up at the
radar building on the summit of Mt. Umunhum at 3486
feet. While the Open Space District owns the summit of Mt.
Umunhum, it is not yet open to the public. Barlow Road can be taken to
Mt. Umunhum Road, but the road ends before it gets to the summit of Mt.
Umunhum. Plans and efforts are underway to clean
up the summit of Mt. Umunhum and open it up to the public. This was as far as I
went on 5/14/11. I returned on the Woods Trail to the Hicks Road
trailhead.
The Woods Trail is part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. If you continue to
follow the Bay Area Ridge Trail route west, take the Woods Trail to the
Kennedy Trail, and the Priest Rock Trail. The trail ends at Lexington
Reservoir County Park on Alma Bridge Road. The Los Gatos Creek Trail and St. Joseph's
Hill OSP are nearby. The next segment of
the Ridge Trail west starts in Sanborn County Park. To follow the Ridge
Trail route east, take the Woods Trail to the Wood Road Trail in
Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Follow that to the Castillero Trail,
Mine Hill Trail, Hacienda Trail, and Virl O. Norton Trail to the
Mockingbird Hill Staging Area. Take Mockingbird Hill Lane and McKean
Road to the start of the Los Alamitos Creek/Calero Creek Trail, which
leads to the Santa Teresa County Park. The Ridge Trail runs along the
Stile Ranch, Mine, Pueblo, Hidden Springs, and Coyote Peak Trails in
Santa Teresa, ending at Coyote Peak. Farther east, the Ridge Trail
route follows the Coyote Creek Trail. See the links on the left side of
this page for more trail and wildflower information and pictures.